Holly Willoughby has spoken candidly about her appearance, saying she feels she looks "more gaunt" as she gets older. The former This Morning host made the comments on The Beauty Desk podcast, marking a rare discussion about her body after years of refusing to talk about it.
The 45-year-old, who has been one of the most photographed women in showbiz, said: "I was always aware when I was younger of having really big old cheeks in my face, I was youthful and squidgy, but I had a squidgy face and this is the lovely thing about getting older is that everything heads south and you thin out and you get a bit more gaunt."
A Shift in Attitude
Despite appearing on the cover of numerous magazines, Willoughby has previously declined to discuss her diet or weight loss. She explained: "I don't think it's helpful to the conversation, for women generally."
She also said she prefers her face and her bottom now compared to when she was younger, adding: "I prefer where my face is now than when I was younger…it's like my bum, when I was young my bum was a real peach, it was really high, it was a big old bum and now it's slightly down my legs I prefer it, because it's not so round."
New Venture and Sponsorship
The comments come after Willoughby launched her first presenting venture since stepping down from This Morning in 2023, following the Phillip Schofield scandal in which her co-host admitted to an affair with a younger colleague. Her new YouTube show, Holly Together, is sponsored by Voy, a company providing private prescriptions and ongoing clinical support for weight-loss medication.
George Pallis, Founder and CEO at Voy, said the partnership is "genuinely aligned" with the company and what they "believe."
Past Comments on Weight Loss
The partnership is an unexpected choice for Willoughby, who shares children Harry, 15, Belle, 15, and Chester, 11, with husband Dan Baldwin. In 2019, she explained how she "deliberately" avoided discussing weight loss because people get "obsessed," and that parents of children with eating disorders had told her society's "fascination" with weight made things harder for them.
She said: "I don't think it's helpful to the conversation, for women generally. As long as you are healthy and happy, that's really all that matters… It's not up to me to give you a blow-by-blow account of what I've eaten that day. It's not helpful, and it's not what's important."
